After a coronavirus pandemic break of over two years, regular international flights resumed from Sunday with airports and airlines getting ready for normal overseas operations. Battered by the pandemic, the airline industry is slowly coming back to normalcy and the resumption of normal overseas flights is expected to provide a fillip to the sector.
The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital, which is also the country’s largest airport, expects international flight departures to witness a significant jump in the first week of April after the resumption of regular international operations.
While Indian airlines are preparing for normal international flights, foreign airlines such as Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, and LOT Polish have declared plans to fly to and from India.
According to the DGCA, 60 airlines from 40 countries have been given permission to operate 1,783 frequencies to and from India during the summer timetable.
From March 27 through October 29, the summer schedule will be in force.
Six Indian carriers have been allowed for a total of 1,466 overseas departures per week for the summer schedule. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, they would fly to 43 locations in 27 countries (DGCA).
In the aftermath of the pandemic, scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended since March 23, 2020, although they will resume on Sunday.
International flights are now performed via bilateral air bubble agreements with a number of countries.
Following the return of regular overseas flights, DIAL, the operator of IGIA, aims to link to over 60 international destinations.
During the pre-COVID era, IGIA was the country’s busiest airport, handling roughly 1.8 lakh passengers per day.
